


Engraved Aprons

by Tiger_with_spots



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Anxiety, Bisexual Female Character, Cooking, Disaster gays!, Emotional Growth, F/F, F/M, Female Friendship, Freak Outs, Friendsgiving, Gen, Guilt, Homosexual agenda, Kitchen adventures, Learning skills, Lesbian Character, Male-Female Friendship, Mutual Pining, Party, Realistic, Romance, Seduction, Self-Growth, Self-Hatred, Self-Reflection, Sexual Content, Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving Dinner, The power of friendship, WHY WON'T YOU JUST TALK ABOUT YOUR FEELINGS, Winter in Seattle, Yearning, Your actions may have consequences, gaynst, hosting woes, young adult life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-02
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:20:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27832921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tiger_with_spots/pseuds/Tiger_with_spots
Summary: “Why not just order pizza, get a bunch of booze and call it a night?”Victoria Chase, who has never cooked a day in her life, has volunteered herself to host and make several dishes for this year's Friendsgiving.Of course she has ulterior motives.Of course it's going to go badly.---In short; Victoria Chase learns the meaning of Thanksgiving all due to the idiots around her.
Relationships: Maxine "Max" Caulfield/Chloe Price, Taylor Christensen/Hayden Jones, Victoria Chase & Nathan Prescott, Victoria Chase/Kate Marsh, Warren Graham/Brooke Scott
Comments: 29
Kudos: 43





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DMMeeble](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DMMeeble/gifts).



> Behold, a very late 'Thanksgiving' themed story. There will be cooking. There will be a bunch of characters from Blackwell coming to this party. 
> 
> And don't worry, this will be a party for everyone to remember.

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“Why not just order pizza, get a bunch of booze and call it a night?” Nathan asked with a touch of hostility. The crappy audio quality just egged her already growing annoyance.

Victoria guessed that giving prisoners better phones wasn’t on the priority list for prison reform. Victoria readjusted the beanie on her head, trying to make sure the lit cigarette didn’t burn the cashmere, as she told Nathan, “I was lectured that the point of the ‘friendsgiving’ is that all the friends have to prepare the meal together as if they were with their families.”

“My family didn’t prepare anything.” Nathan scoffed. Even in prison, his snootiness found a way to survive.

“And not everyone else grew up with a living real-estate fortune, Nate. Didn’t you celebrate on a private yacht one time? With a private chef? #the1percent much?” Victoria retorted.

“Touche, Victoria.” Nathan relented. Victoria walked around the block of her apartment, smoking a cigarette (probably would be two) as she talked to Nathan Prescott.

Victoria tried to take his calls once every two weeks. Once a week if possible. After a handful of years of not speaking then vulnerable letter exchanges and awkward phone calls they had finally gotten into a good rhythm of correspondence.

Victoria still wrote him letters with scheduled regularity. She now memorized the address and his inmate number at Stafford Creek Corrections Center by heart.

The icy outdoor air that bit at her nose also added to her irritation as she, again, forgot to bring tissues with her. Winters in Seattle, while not as horrid as the Midwest and the Northeast, were still a yearly struggle when one wanted to be outside. You would think being a native would make her immune to this. No. It did not. She fought not to let the snot dribble out of her nostrils as she listened intently to the voice on the opposite end of the line.

“Then why not get a personal chef? Make it easier for all of you.” Nathan suggested.

“These are normies, Nate, they can’t afford anything.” Victoria explained.

“Well you can hire a personal chef.”

“I know” Victoria snipped at him, “but ‘it’s not the spirit of Thanksgiving wah was wah’ bullshit and for some reason everyone wants to take part in it now and Ugh!” Victoria concluded, exasperated.

“I don’t know why we celebrate this holiday, the settlers just massacred almost all the Native Americans.” Nathan said, “it’s just good ‘ol American hypocrisy.”

Victoria sighed, a memory of Kate’s hand gently resting on her arm as she said, “it’s about how for one moment we were all together and grateful for what we had and how far we’ve come. We have a duty to celebrate our small moments of victory and unity; when America is at its best. It’s a reminder of what we have to strive for every day.” Victoria quoted.

There was a moment of silence on the other end.

“Ok, fair enough, that sounds like Marsh.” Nathan grumbled. Victoria coughed up some smoke.

Nathan hadn’t been the only one she had kept in touch with over the years. Victoria had done her best to keep tabs on how much she mentioned her new...a thousand words all jumbled in her mind, trying to define what this person was to her. None of them could do the feelings this person conjured within her justice.

“Yes.” Was all Victoria could answer.

“So, why do you have to host this shindig?” Nathan asked, “can’t someone else do it? LIke Caulfield or Ward? Also why are you cooking so much? Sounds like a huge headache to me.”

“Again, Nathan,” Victoria sighed, “these are normies. All their apartments are tiny and dirty and none of them have a kitchen or any fridge space to even hold anything more than takeout and oat milk.”

“I still can’t believe that’s a thing.” Nathan interjected. That made a brief smile come onto Victoria’s face. Revealing to Nathan the latest changes in culture and upgrades in technology was one of the most rewarding parts of their exchanges.

“So, of course, I’m the one who has the save Thanksgiving- I mean Friendsgiving or whatever.” Victoria stated, adding a bit of conceit to hopefully throw off Nathan’s scent.

“Huh. How generous of you.” Nathan remarked. Even though they were both on the phone, Victoria felt his look. Of course Nathan would know when she was hiding an ulterior motive. It just aggravated her that he could tell by just her voice.

“T’is the season to be generous.” Victoria retorted. Nathan just sniffed at her.

“So, who’s coming to this soirée of yours?” Nathan asked with no curiosity whatsoever, “You got Christenson, Jones, Gayram, that girl with the drones...”

“Brooke Scott is Warren Graham’s plus one.” VIctoria corrected with a knife edge on the word, ‘Graham.’

Nathan continued, ignoring Victoria, “...Scott, Ward and whoever her new fling is”

“I did say a plus one on the invitation, but she ‘entered single and ready to mingle’ and added a winky face, ugh”

“Ugh, cheerleader. Then there’s Caulfield so of course that means Price is going, too. Make sure she wears deodorant.”

“Oh, she’s going to make my entire apartment smell like Axe body spray” Victoria grumbled, “I cannot wait.” She added sarcastically.

That got a snicker out of Nathan. He paused before adding, “There’s one more, who was it again?” He asked, again, with absolutely no curiosity.

Victoria hesitated. “Kate Marsh.” she answered.

“Ah. Yes, Kate Marsh.” He confirmed.

Victoria felt the pause like a stone on her spine. She always did her best to not mention her. Or, if she had to, she tried to glide over her name pretty quickly. That had grown harder and harder to do over the past several months.

“You said someone was going to help you prep this feast,” Nathan said, “who was that again? Is it Christensen?”

Victoria’s first instinct was to lie but she knew that Nathan would hear right through it, “No, it’s Marsh.” She conceded.

“Yeah. It’s Kate Marsh.” Nathan concluded, his words deliberate and like a razor, leaving Victoria feeling horribly exposed.

Every second of silence after that bore down more and more dread upon Victoria. How was she supposed to casually bring up the subject that gave them both, individually and together, one of the biggest quandaries of their lives? How could they unpack the entirety of a horrifying sequence of events that she didn’t know all the details to and Nathan didn’t want to talk about but she unwittingly made worse?

“Well, if anyone’s going to help you, she’s your best bet.” Nathan said, ending the agony. Utter relief filled her heart.

“Yeah, I think she’s the only one I know who has cooked something more than reheating a burrito or making instant mac’n’cheese.”

Nathan snorted, “My nanny made me mac’n’cheese.” arrogantly put, as always.

Victoria shook her head, before adding, “I’ve never made mac’n’cheese in my life. I ordered it once in Paris and I didn’t like it.”

They both laughed out loud at themselves. Ridiculous, spoiled brats the two of them were.

“Well shit Victoria, you better crack open some Julia Child and watch Top Chef or something.” Nathan said, his rarely seen good humor infecting Victoria.

“Excuse you, the aprons I ordered are awesome. They are made out of denim and there’s “Victoria Chef de Cuisine” in yellow stitching embroidered on it. I look legit.”

There was a pause and where Victoria expected a snide response, she got a question. “Aprons?” Nathan asked, zeroing in on something, “why did you get more than one? Do they all say ‘Victoria Chef de cuisine’?”

Victoria walked a couple of steps, her thoughts firing off way faster than the click of her heeled boots could follow.

“Nathan, I may be slaving away but I’m going to look good doing it, I need options.” Victoria said, coating elitism over her deliberate evasion and...slight lie.

Nathan chuckled, “forever the fashionista.” He commented. “Tori,can you get me different options for uniforms? The same orange is fugly as Hell.”

Victoria smirked as she paused at a cross walk, she elbowed the pedestrian button before replying, “what do you think about retro? Go for the bold black and white stripes? O Brother where art thou?”

It was a shame that the cars racing by smothered his loud laughter.

Later at home, after Victoria had taken off her winter clothing and cranked the heater up high enough to fill the large apartment up with summer vibes she went back into her room where the aprons were laid out on her bed.

There were only two of them. Both gorgeous. Blue denim with leather straps. One did indeed was engraved with yellow stitching  
“Chef de Cuisine Victoria”

Victoria only sighed as she ran her fingers over the stitching that said “Chef de Cuisine Kate”

She was so fucked.

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	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Practice and fail and practice and fail and practice and fail and practice and fail and cry and practice and fail and rage out and practice and fail and scream and practice and fail and think about it and try something else and practice and fail and think about it and try something else and practice and fail and cry--
> 
> Such is the endurance of building craft.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song inspirations:
> 
> La clé des champs - NTO

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“I’ve made these greek stuffed acorn squash 7 times now and I think I’m getting the hang of it. The gravy though is a bitch to not get clumps in. Cornstarch and flour just suck. Period.” Victoria relayed as she cut the stale crust off the loaf of sourdough. 

On the other end of her facetime, Taylor just nodded, watching her flit around her large kitchen. “Wow, Tori, this is just...” Taylor paused for half a second, searching for the word, “just like Michelin star stuff, it’s super impressive but, like...” Taylor searched for more appropriate words before asking, “don’t you think that this may be a bit too _advanced_ for the guests that are coming?” Taylor didn’t say, ‘herself included’ as she was now trying to figure out what the Hell could she and her plus one bring in order to even try and match Victoria’s insane menu. 

Victoria shook her head, brushing off that remark like the crust she dumped in the trash, “If I really wanted to blow some titties off I’d do the turkey marinated in red wine or the Spanish Pimenton brined turkey - but I stayed up until 2 am making that and it was still dry as Death Valley.” Victoria stated, frustrated at herself that she still didn’t have it down. 

For the past two weeks, Victoria had drowned herself in gastronomy. She had devoured two masterclasses, a season and a half of Top Chef, and been down the rapids of YouTube cooking videos. She had gone from forced interest to scoffing at the screen “That is _not_ how cavatappi is supposed to look like, God, amateur.”

This on top of her demanding jobs as a photography assistant and freelance fashion photographer meant Victoria wasn’t getting any sleep at all. Sugar-free Red Bull, coffee, and cigarettes became her meals of the day, mouthfuls of her cooking practices were her midnight meals. She had eaten so much dry, burned, under seasoned and over seasoned food that her throat refused to swallow it anymore. 

She would feel worse about the amount of food she threw away if pigeons would peck at it. But no, she had tried tossing a couple of birds some of her burned food and they had _flown away from it._ She had never seen a bird just _fly away from free food._

That had been a terrible blow to her ego that day.

Even though Victoria was quite insecure(working on it and getting better now), she had always been quite tenacious in attaining her goals. This goal was too close to her heart to give up on. Victoria understood how to push through punishing self-loathing in order to perfect a craft.

That and she wanted to murder every pidgeon in Seattle and use their stupid dead bodies to practice her recipes on. 

On top of that she had scoured every reputable source for stellar recipes. She wasn’t just going to _fry_ the turkey or do whatever else anyone else could do. This Thanksgiving had to make an impression. This Friendsgiving will be talked about for years to come. 

She had bought a kitchen aid, a food processor, a professional-grade blender, and three different types of meat thermometers. She had both Japanese and German culinary knives for different purposes. She had an electric grade, electric sharpener for those knives. 

She had single-handedly spent the cost of two higher-end DSLR cameras or one basic professional Leica lens on all this cooking equipment. 

From Victoria’s phone via facetime, Taylor watched her pace around her kitchen like a madwoman as she spoke. 

“Sooooo, if this all goes well are you finally going to ask Kate out?” Taylor asked, her expression both amused and concerned by Victoria’s obsessive behavior. She had long grown used to Victoria’s innate intensity and excessive behavior. As a good friend though, she knew when to shine the light of reality on a situation. 

Victoria’s cheeks immediately flared hot, “No, Taylor, the ‘friendsgiving’ is going to blow her away. The food, the ambiance, the experience of it all -- she will _throw_ herself at me. Naturally, I make her come her brains out, and after, once we get post-coital brunch together- we’re _golden._ Seduction’s the name of the game, not _courtship._ ” Victoria stressed, again. She was creating a once in a lifetime experience that would make someone overcome with lust and desire, which would lead to _freaky_ fornication, which would lead to a wonderful relationship while never having to talk about feelings nor truly complicated issues surrounding said relationship. What was so difficult to understand about this? 

“So you two going on ‘adventures’ with each other everywhere, eating take-out at your place while you both _literally_ Netflix and chill, having long ass hugs, and talking _all the time_ is _not_ courtship?” Taylor asked.

“It’s not,” Victoria said, her voice sharp. “You’re lucky you’re on the phone right now or I’d shove some hot roux down your shirt.”

_I can’t ask her out because she would say no. She would take one look at me, and then remember every reason why she should reject me. There’s no way that Kate Marsh would ever want an insecure, wannabe, spoiled brat, ex-bully as her girlfriend._

“Girl, you two are _obsessed_ with each other,” Taylor said, not phased by that threat at all. Victoria had tempered down her impulsive wrath after years of therapy and growing up. Mostly though it was because Taylor was physically miles away from her at the moment. 

“She’s not obsessed with me” Victoria retorted, “she dates other women.” She grumbled as she looked for oregano and cursed under her breath to see that she had run out _again._

“Those girls are lame.” Taylor asserted, “maybe she’s only dating other women because you won’t ask her out.”

Victoria didn’t answer that, scrounging for some rosemary to chop up. 

“She always talks about you” Taylor threw out there, “Kate’s always like ‘oh, how’s Victoria?’ or ‘oh Victoria said this funny thing’ or ‘Victoria and I are doing this thing’ or ‘Victoria is so stylish and so hot--’”

Victoria’s ears picked up on that and she snapped to attention, ‘hot? Did specifically say ‘hot?’” Victoria asked, her heart demanding an answer. ‘Hot’ was not polite. ‘Hot’ was objectifying and so blatantly crass that it could be rude, flattering and _both_ at the same time. 

“Yes, it’s Victoria’s so pretty--” Taylor said again. 

Victoria groaned, “nooo, she says _everyone_ is pretty. Kate’s _nice_ like that she appreciates ‘everyone’s individual beauty’ and whatever crap really good people like her actually do.” Victoria felt herself angrily sulk as she picked up some garlic to smash. 

“You’re right, Kate says everyone’s really pretty...” Taylor admitted. “ But I’ve _never_ heard her say anyone was hot before.” Victoria’s ears perked at that factoid, “not even Kelsey.”

**BAM!!** Victoria brought down the side of the cleaver down with the wrath of God. “Do not even say her name.” Victoria hissed, feeling an unexpected spike of murderous impulse within her body. 

Kate had gone on plenty of dates and had dated some women during their friendship but it had never lasted more than a few weeks for some reason or another. The women, for the most part, were...alright. None of them seemed even worth Kate’s time, though. They had been mediocre, boring women, and Victoria was always proud of Kate for releasing them back into the wild…

Ok, Victoria used to term ‘boot them to the curb’ but Kate’s phrase was much cuter. 

Then from the sewage of skankdom slithered out Kelsey where she snatched Kate by her slutty claws--

Ok. That was just Victoria’s jealousy and personal opinion talking. 

Kelsey and Kate had met one day during an LGBTQ outdoor hiking excursion. She was a young venture capitalist in the tech industry. She was of new money, helped start up a pilates studio, was heavily involved with a few social justice organizations, graduated from Princeton, and appeared to _have it all._ They had dated for a couple of months and some change and every minute of it felt like a large dagger twisting three degrees to the left in Victoria’s chest. 

Victoria hated how Kelsey actually seemed _worth_ Kate's time. Every time she had to witness Kelsey touch Kate made Victoria want to shove someone’s head through a window. Preferably Kelsey’s. Victoria’s insane jealousy aside, she had honestly tried to be supportive of Kate's new...relationship but something about Kelsey really _bothered_ Victoria. Initially, she ignored that feeling, blaming it on her own unrequited ardor for Kate but that’s when she caught Kelsey’s first true red flag. Kelsey appeared to only ever have her hand over Kate’s shoulder, gripping it. Or her arm flung over Kate’s shoulders, bracing her close. 

This was not a lover’s hand, casually touching or resting upon a partner’s body. Kelsey’s fingers remained tense, always, as if she refused to let Kate go. Every time Kate was physically separated from Kelsey in group gatherings, Victoria saw how, when no one appeared to be watching her, Kelsey’s lips thinned, a permanent frown on her face. She would peer at Kate, internally simmering, s _omething_ unhealthy within her cooking hot. 

Kelsey was _possessive._

That’s when Victoria decided on a different tactic. Know thy enemy. It was painfully easy to lower Kelsey’s guard. Victoria knew the tech trends, she knew ‘business’ hot terms and how to speak ‘pretentious, self-centered, ambitious bullshit language.’ That and she googled the shit out of “Kelsey Joanna Morgan.” 

And that’s when she noticed Kelsey's second true red flat. She would subtly belittle Kate’s illustration, her background art, her freelance work for children’s shows. How Kelsey would urge Kate to be a graphic designer for startups. ‘They pay better, the companies make _real_ change. You’re worth more than _cartoons._ ’ The worst part was that Kelsey would _keep saying that_ . It was as if she were blind to the fact that character design and art were Kate’s given gift and hard-earned _skill._ Kate _loved_ illustration and animation. She _loved_ what she was doing. Being in some tech start-up would bore her mind and kill her _soul._

Victoria had tried to be a supportive friend. She tried. Key word _tried._

It was during a group dinner when Kelsey said that shit again when Victoria cut into that conversation like a razor. Victoria practically recited a doctorate on the power of pop-culture and how it had more power to infiltrate the hearts of the _entire_ population on the planet to do good and be better. She cited major sources, she brought up studies, Victoria had she brought up how _cartoons_ had a longer, more positive retention within people’s brains than fucking websites and apps ever would. 

And how it how, while technology made the world more convenient and efficient, that _art_ and _narrative_ had always incited thought, conversation and deep introspection that caused individual reform. 

That had made the entire party go quiet as Victoria and Kelsey stared each other down until Kelsey gave out the most knock-off fake-ass Gucci laugh in history and changed the subject. Victoria drank angrily while Taylor had to text her to _not_ murder Kelsey for the rest of the dinner. Victoria remembered _distinctly_ how Kelsey’s hand never left Kate’s shoulder for the rest of the evening. 

A week or so later, Victoria had encountered Kelsey in a coffee shop and terse small talk led to a huge _blow-out_ where Victoria had ripped Kelsey a new asshole. Amongst calling Kelsey out for being a fucking ‘self-made’ wannabe that relied completely on her father’s money and her father’s golf buddies and her wealthy uncle for the seed money and for access to the investors for round two of investments. She was a hypocritical insta-preneur who worshipped the stupid ground Tim Ferris walked on and probably never even read about Arlan Hamilton, a true entrepreneur who was _actually_ changing the system and not just benefiting from it. 

Kelsey stormed out with tears in her eyes. 

It was _amazing._

A couple of days later she and Kate broke up. Kate didn’t talk to Victoria for a couple of weeks after and it made Victoria feel like shit. She didn’t sleep at all, drank too much wine every night, and definitely checked every 15 minutes on Kate’s social media account to see if she was Ok and yearned for a text. Anything. Even a “fuck you” message would’ve been better than silence.

Then Taylor threw a small party at her place, her official debut with a new unexpected man on her arm. 

Kate approached Victoria from across the room without saying anything and she just hugged her. Every woe of the world lifted as Victoria returned it. 

Life then appeared to go back to normal. They were all friends, Kate and her texted all the time and Victoria continued pining after Kate, her heart growing fat on a love that grew and grew every day. 

“Look, as much as I _loooooove_ a good plan and girl, you make _good_ plans...” Taylor said. Victoria frowned as this was a caveat. She hated caveats. “Maybe you’re overthinking this one. I think if you just...asked her to brunch, just the two of you, she’ll say yes and be all about being in lesbians with you. Then the scissoring can commence.”

“Tay! Scissoring isn’t really a thing — ugh! Look, this isn’t just about that” Victoria stressed, “this has to be perfect. You don’t understand—”

“Girl, you need to woman up and ask her out.” A deep voice interjected. Victoria flinched in surprise, not expecting to hear Hayden Jones’s voice.

“Babe” Taylor complained, “I told you not to eavesdrop on my girl catch-ups with Victoria.”

“And yet you go have your girl catch-ups in my living room, without headphones on.” Hayden's disembodied voice said, full of ire. 

Taylor smiled and shrugged. Until Victoria saw the camera lift up into the air, “hey!” Taylor called out but the camera was turned to face Hayden; Taylor’s new boyfriend. Kate Marsh hadn’t been the only reconnection that Victoria had experienced over the past year. 

“Hey girl, how’s that stuffing coming along?” Hayden asked with his trademark smile. 

Victoria couldn’t fight off the dashes of affection seeping within her heart, “just starting this one up, hopefully, it won’t set off the fire alarms this time.” She answered. Hayden chuckled as he moved across the room. 

Hayden had moved to Seattle last year when he got a job at a design agency and needed a place to crash while he was looking for a new apartment. Victoria had let him stay at her place for a couple of months. Living with him hadn’t been bad at all except he just left his shit laying around _everywhere._ Victoria couldn’t deny how nice it had been to live with someone who knew her and was generous with his weed. With him, there had been a lot of nights sharing joints, playing video games together, and laughing at each other. Occasionally, they had some interesting talks about life and those moments had been nicer than expected. 

Hayden had kicked off a lot of his childish ways while still maintaining his relaxed charm. He had become less stoner, preppy party boy, and more like a Michael B. Jordan. Stylish, professional, the _ultimate_ gentleman who still liked to toke, but didn’t make it his only thing y’know? 

Of course, Taylor and him reunited. While she did comment that Hayden had aged nicely, initially it had seemed like it was just a very warm, cordial hang out. After Courtney moved to Chicago, it had been really nice to have another Ex-Vortex Club be in her friendship circle. It had been around six years since Blackwell and they caught on so easily, as if they had jumped out of an old photograph of them hanging out and had just magically continued that scene. 

Yet after he had met Taylor again, Victoria noticed that he became a particular type of gentleman around her best friend. 

Hayden would light up every time Taylor was in the room, his mood suddenly twice brighter. He always made sure to freshen up and look _very_ good when Victoria told him Taylor was coming over. It was cute to see how Hayden tried hard to make her laugh or offer his arm to her every time she had to get up or when they all went out drinking together. Most of all, Victoria really liked that he _listened_ every time she spoke. He was always supportive and respectful of Taylor’s interior design career and only ever offered constructive criticism or intros to contacts that could help her. 

When Taylor had told Victoria that Hayden had asked her out on a date, Victoria wasn’t too surprised — Taylor was beautiful, smart and a _fine_ catch. What had surprised her was how shy Taylor was when she admitted that she was looking forward to it.

Now here they were, an official couple, five months strong and no signs of slowing down. #HayTay #relationshipgoals #love #TayHay 

Victoria would never admit it to anyone but she _shipped_ the two of them hard and couldn’t wait to be the ultimate maid of honor at their wedding. 

“Hayden, give it back, I was talking to her” Taylor whined in the background. 

“Well, now I’m talking to her. You’ll get it back soon, I promise.” Hayden said, his voice smooth as the butter that slipped underneath Victoria’s fingernails, “Also, Victoria’s my girl too - we’re all Vortex club here.” Hayden said as he walked back towards his desk. VIctoria felt a swell of pride and a childish happiness within her heart, akin to a kid who would hide in their parent’s leg when a nice stranger complimented them. 

Hayden then spoke to Victoria, “Look, Tori, I understand why you’re choking - Kate’s an amazing woman, she’s got the personality, the looks, the brains, spirit you name it - I’d be nervous as Hell if I had to ask her out” Hayden explained. 

“Were you nervous when you asked me out?” Taylor called out from the other side of the living room. 

Hayden turned as he responded, “Oh you? I wasn’t nervous at all, I was terrified.”

“Terrified? Am I that scary?” Taylor squawked. 

Hayden shrugged, “Nah, you’re just the hottest woman I’ve ever seen, you’re wicked smart and already know all my bullshit, so I wasn’t so sure you’d be down with me trying to take you out” He said. 

Taylor and Hayden both cackled. Victoria couldn’t help but smile, those two lucky assholes were really _good_ together. 

“Do what I did, brace yourself, and ask her out. If she says no, bow out gracefully and drink a whole lot while you lick your wounds for the night. But pining on and on isn’t going to put you in the race.”

“I’m not pining,” Victoria protested. 

“Sure.” Hayden said, “you’re not.”

Victoria felt an irritation bubble under her collar. Taylor and Hayden were lucky they weren’t in her kitchen right now - there’d be a couple’s special on getting hot gravy thrown all over them. 

“Also, VIctoria -I don’t get what you’re waiting for,” Hayden continued, “like, I’d understand if you were someone who was wasting their lives doing something they hated, didn’t take care of themselves and, I dunno, collected creepy-ass dolls...but you’re not. You’re _you._ ” Hayden said. Victoria looked away as she felt her body roil in gratitude and the urge to vomit. _You’re lying_ She wanted to seethe at him but held her tongue. “You really have nothing to be worried about” he assured, “also I have to agree with Tasty Tay over there, I think you’re not seeing what we’re all seeing.”

“Girl, retweet!” Taylor called out. 

“I’m not seeing what you're all seeing because it’s not there.” Victoria snipped at him. 

_Kate knows that I’m a wannabe hack. All the money I have isn’t my own. I have no sexy curves. No one likes me. I’m not a social-justice-vegan-hippy lesbian. I’m just a disaster pansexual who keeps making terrible decisions--_

“Come on, Tori” Hayden urged, pulling Victoria out of her riptide of self-hatred, “You really have nothing to lose. Who knows,” Hayden said as he turned the camera to catch Taylor in the background, “it may just work out.”

Taylor shrugged as she retorted only with a jest, “I dunno, is it though?”

Hayden immediately got up and ran towards Taylor, grabbing at her ribs, causing a sharp shriek of laughter to shoot out of her mouth and blast open Victoria’s eardrums. Victoria let it go. Taylor and Hayden both deserved to be that happy. 

Shortly after that, she let them both go. After she hung up she turned her Ipad onto a Ted Talk and got to work. This stuffing wasn’t going to make itself and Victoria knew she had some ways to go before she could serve it to the woman who held her heart. 

Victoria prayed that Kate wouldn’t fly away after seeing her food laid out in front of her.

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know what came over me to put Taylor and Hayden together but now that I have, I am team #TayHay #HayTay
> 
> Prepare for a lot more cooking and some more angst to come out of the oven in the next chapter. 
> 
> But also, finally, Kate will show up!

**Author's Note:**

> T'is the feelings for gratitude. This one is meant for all the duckies out there who have and continue to support me during these insane times. 
> 
> A thousand words come up to my mind of what to say. How does one phrase how all that support feels?
> 
> I can only say thank you. 
> 
> The next chapter will come soon.


End file.
